My girls can come across as quite docile when they meet someone new. Let me assure you, however, they are far from calm and quiet. They're nuts! And now I have evidence.

I have to admit, I envisioned this beach photo session in Corolla, NC, with the docile, I-behave-like-this-only-when-I'm-shy version of my girls. They would be sitting together, offering up huge smiles as the sun set over the dunes. Yeah, right. I didn't get a single shot of them sitting together with both looking at the camera.

But what I did capture was much more exciting and natural: two sisters finding a deserted sandcastle, playing and jumping and tackling each other. These photos are exactly how I want to remember them—perfect in the way only two wild, curious and sweet (and disobedient) toddlers could be.

Below: Cricket in mid-air, using her full body weight to shove Nora face-first into the sand. (Yes, she succeeded before I could stop her.)

Tiny toes in the surf.

We can't keep this one out of the water; she literally runs straight into the waves.

The closest I got to traditional portrait.

Jump!

A little bit of cooperation from Nora.

This photo of Cricket was one of the last frames I took that evening. She was finally exhausted enough to pause for a moment and let me take a non-action shot as the sun dipped behind the dunes.

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Hello there

I'm Julia Soplop, writer and photographer. I believe there is something profound in bearing witness to moments of joy and pain in others’ lives. My husband, three girls and I live outside of Chapel Hill, NC. You can read more about me here.